Remote monitoring of elevator conditions has become common. The status of various elements and various operational parameters of the elevator are typically sent by a communication link, which may be telephone or some other media, to a central monitoring and control station. Remote elevator monitoring of this sort may be as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,568,909, 4,622,538 5,450,478, and more modern systems which have evolved therefrom.
A typical response to an elevator malfunction that requires immediate attention is dispatching service personnel on a service call to the site of the elevator. Performing an on-site service call delays the point in time when correction of the malfunction will occur. Service calls are also costly.